Apparel-corset.



No. 646,082. Patented Mar. 27, |900.

E. M. STEWARD.

APPAREL CORSET.

(Applictian filed Feb. 15, 1899.)

(No Model.)

Le s," THE NDRRXS PETERS CU PHOTO-LITRO.. WASHINON. D. C.

rines.

LIZA IVI. STEWARD, OF ASIIVILLE, OHIO.

APPAREL-CORSET.

SPECIFICATION' forming part of Letters Patent No. 646,082, dated March 27, 1900. Application led February 15 1899. Serial No. 705,552. (No model.)

`To all whom t may concern,.-

Be it known that I, ELIZA M. STEWARD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ashville, in the county of Pickaway and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Corset- S'tay Protector, of which vthe following is a specification.

It is customary in the manufacture of corsets to provide the steels or stays with tips with a view to reducing the tendency to cu't through the corset fabric; but experience has shown that the expedient of tipping the corset steels is not satisfactory, because the steels, owing to friction and wear, will cut through the corset fabric. Hence the steel or stay is liable to wear and tear the clothing and injure the flesh of the wearer. In view of this objection a want has existed for a means to prevent the steel from injuring the clothing and the wearer; and the object of this invention is to providepa means whichwill supply this demand -by the provision of a device which may be easily and quickly fastened in place ou a corset in a manner to,

inclose or house the protruding sharp end of the stay.

The repair-protector of my invention is simple and cheap, and it is constructed for exe peditious application to the corset. The protector is equipped with prongs that are designed to be attached to the corset fabric for securely holding said protector in place and which will prevent the prongs themselves from being exposed to stick into the wearer or catch in the clothing.

The invention consists of a means for repairing a corset comprising a sheet-metal protector adapted to be bent or doubled upon itself into substantially U shape, and thereby produce two members,each of which is provided with prongs which are bent and clenched inwardly within the limits of the protector.

To enable others to understand the invention, I have illustrated the same in the accoma panying drawings, forming part of this speciiication, and in which- Figure 1 isa sectional elevation of a protector constructed in accordance with my invention and applied to a portion of a corset. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the protector -as it appears when struck up in blank form from a single piece of sheet metal. Fig. i3 is a pern spective view of another form of the protec'# tor partly bent into shape. Fig. 4 is a ver# tical section through a corset with the protector of Fig. 3 yapplied in proper position over the sharp end o'f a corset-steel. Fig. 5 is a transverse section of the device shown by Fig. 4 and on the plane indicated by the dotted line 5 5.

The same numerals of reference are used to designate like parts in each figure of the drawings.

In order that others may understand the mode of applying and using my device for repairing a corset to protect sharp protruding ends of a steel, I have illustrated a fragment of a corset in Figs. 1, 4, and 5,*in which the numeral 10 is used to designate the 'corset fabric, and the numeral 1l indicates the stay or steel.

' It will be understood that the invention does not relate to the construction of the corset per se or to the stay 11 thereof, because the present improvement is directed more particularly to the means for repairing the corset in order to house or inclose the sharp end of the stay'11, but relates to the combination, with the corset and stay, of a metallic tip embracing the top and sides of the corset and having prongs at its ends turned inward and clenching the fabric of the corset be= tween them and the sides of the clip, the terminal portion of the stay lying between the clenched prongs and serving to deiiect them during the operation of eecting the clenching. Y

In the embodiment of the protector 12 illustrated by Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings it is stamped or struck from a single piece of sheet metal in the blank form shown more particularly by Fig. 2. The protector consists of a body 13, a pair of clenchable prongs 14, which extend from one edge of the body, and another pairof clenchable prongs 15, which project from the opposite edge of the body. I prefer to group the pair .of prongs 14 quite closely together; but the other pair of prongs 15 are spaced apart a distance equivalent to the width of the prongs 14 in orderfthat the two pairs of prongs may be bent and clenched into engagement with the corset fabric 10 without interference one upon the other.

After having prepared the protector by ICO stamping it from sheet metal, as heretofore described, it is ready for use and application to the corset over the end of the stay 11. 'Ihe body 13 of the protector is designed to be bent or folded along the central line,(indicated by the numeral 16,) thus making the body present a substantially U -shaped'appearance in cross-section. In applying the protector to a corset the prongs 14 are bent at right angles to the plane of the body 13, and the protector is applied to one side of the corset fabric in a position to have one-half of the body extend beyond the edge of said fabric. The prongs 14 are inserted or thrust into the fabric 10 on one side of the corset, and these prongs are then bent inwardly upon the body 13and the fabric 10, so that the prongs will lie within the limits of the body. The protector is now bent or folded along the line 16 and over the end of the stay or steel 11, thus bringing the other pair of prongs 15 into position to engage with the fabric 10 on the opposite side of the corset from the points of engagement of the prongs 14 with said fabric. The prongs 15 are now bent inwardly into engagement with the fabric 10, and they are folded within the limits of the body 13, which is itself folded around the edge of the corset fabric and the end of the stay or steel 11. It will thus be seen that the protector incloses or houses within itself a portion of the corset fabric and the end of the stay or steel and that the prongs 14 15 of said protector are bent or folded inwardly within the protector and are clenched into engagement with the corset fabric 10 on opposite sides thereof. The prongs thus lie within the limits of the folded protector, so that they are not exposed to catch into the clothing or prick the wearer, and the protector is thereby fastened firmly on the edge of the corset in a manner to afford protection to the sharp protruding end of the steel or stay 11.

In the embodiment of the protector represented by Fig. 3 of the drawings it is stamped or strucknp from a single piece of sheet metal to provide the body 17, which is adapted to be folded or doubled upon itself on the line 18. The opposite edges of this protector are bent to form the narrow lips 19 20, which are folded inwardly upon the body 17. On the lip 19 at one edge of the body is formed a pair of prongs 21, which are disposed in closed relation to each other and are adapted to be bent inwardly upon the body 17, while the other lip 20 has the spaced prongs 22, which project from the ends of the lip and are designed to be bent toward each other and in a direction at right angles to the line of bend of the prongs 21. To apply the protector of Fig. 3 to a corset, the lip 19, having the prongs 21, is fitted against one side of the fabric for the prongs to enter said fabric and to be clenched against the body 17, and the protector is now folded on the line 18 over the edge of the corset fabric and the steel, and finally the prongs 22 are bent inwardly toward each other and at right angles to the line of bending of the prongs 21. These prongs 22 are thus adapted to engage the fabric in a manner to counteract any displacement of the protector in adirection at right angles to a movement permitted by the bending of the prongs 21; but said prongs 22 lie within the edges of the body 17, so that the prongs engage with the fabric and do not protrude beyond the protector, thus minimizing any tendency of the prongs tc catch in the clothing.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the drawings, it will be observed that I have provided a simple and cheap construction adapted to be applied expeditiously to the edge of a corset in a manner to thoroughly inclose the end of a steel or stay for the purpose of preventing the stay from tearing the clothing and injuring the wearer. The folded edge of the protector is not liable to injure the wearers clothing, because it closely hugs and fits the edge of the corset fabric, and the prongs by which the protector is fastened in place are concealed with-v in the folded members of said protector, thus preventing said prongs from catching in the clothing.

The device is verysimple and cheap in con struction, and it may be easily and quickly applied by an unskilled person.

Changes in the form, proportion, size, and the minor details of construction within the scope of the appended claims maybe resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacriiicing any of the advantages of this invena tion.

Vhat I claim isn 1. A means for protecting a corset-stay consisting of a protector stamped from a single pieceof sheet metal and consisting of a body adapted to be bent or folded upon itself into U shape in cross-section, a pair of prongs on Aone edge of the body and bendable inwardly upon one portion thereof for engagement with a corset fabric on one side, and another pair of prongs in closer relation on the opposite edge of the body and bendable inwardly therein for position between the plane of the first-named pair of prongs, all of the prongs lying inclosed within the limits of the folded body, substantially as described.

2. A protector for the tips of stays of corsets and the like, consisting of a metallic blank foldable between its ends to embrace opposite sides of the stay and fabric and eX- tend over the end thereof, inner lips at opposite ends of the blank, prongs at the edge of one lip foldable inward at right angles to the fold of the blank and adapted to engage the fabric of the stay at one side, and other prongs at the terminals of the opposite lip foldable inward parallel with the fold of the blank and adapted to engage the fabric of the stay at the opposite side, substantially as specified.

3. A means for protecting a corset-stay consisting of a protector stamped from a single piece of sheet metal and consisting of a body l named pair of prongs, all the prongs lying lo adapted to be bent or folded upon itself into within the limits of the folded body.

U shape in eross-section, a pair of prongs on In testimony that I claim the foregoing as one edge of the body and bendable inwardly my own I have hereto affixed my signature upon one portion thereof for engagement with in the presence of two witnesses.'

a corset fabric on one side, and another pair ELIZA M. STEWARD. of prongs on the opposite edge of the body Witnesses: and bendable inwardly therein in a direction P. H. HOFFHEINES,

at right angles to the line of bend of the first- J. W. SHUEMAKER. 

